Improving Cardiac Arrest Diagnostic Accuracy of Emergency Medical Dispatchers

NCT01872325 | Completed Results DMC

• 1 other identifier: 2012-0379-01H
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 1,076
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The main goal of this project is to help 9-1-1 emergency medical dispatchers save the lives of more cardiac arrest victims. The investigators will develop teaching tools to help the dispatchers recognize abnormal breathing that may indicate a victim as having a cardiac arrest. After training sessions, the investigators will see if dispatchers can get better at recognizing abnormal breathing, how often they give CPR instructions, and if use of the teaching tool will increase bystander CPR and the number of victims leaving the hospital alive.

Conditions

Cardiac Arrest

Keywords

cardiac arrest; bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR; dispatch-assisted CPR instructions; agonal breathing

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of Participants With Agonal Breathing

  By reviewing recordings of all cardiac arrest calls, including missed cases retrieved from a registry, document presence or absence of agonal breathing.

  At the time of the cardiac arrest event

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Number of Cases Where Cardiac Arrest Was Recognized by the Ambulance Dispatcher

  At the time of the cardiac arrest event

Other Outcomes (2)

• Number of Participants Who Received Bystander CPR

  At the time of the cardiac arrest event

• Number of Participants Surviving to Hospital Discharge

  At the time of the cardiac arrest event to discharge alive from hospital (varies, depending on length of hospital stay)

Study Arms (2)

Training site

All emergency medical dispatchers at a central ambulance communication centre in Ontario will participate in an educational program designed to improve cardiac arrest diagnostic accuracy.

Behavioral: Education

Control site

All emergency medical dispatchers at a central ambulance communications centre geographically remote from the Training Site and has a similar rate to the Training Site for cardiac arrests, bystander CPR rate, and survival

Interventions

Education BEHAVIORAL

An education program will be developed using behaviour change techniques specifically mapped to address modifiable factors identified in a previous study. These techniques will include: information about the significance of agonal breathing, modeling/demonstration of desired behavioural skills, rehearsal of desired skills, and monitoring/reinforcement and feedback.

Training site

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 16 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

All patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

You may qualify if:

• presumed cardiac origin
• event occurs in the catchment area of Training or Control Site
• resuscitation is attempted by a bystander and/or the emergency responders

You may not qualify if:

• patients younger than 16 years old
• patients who are "obviously dead" as defined by the Ambulance Act of Ontario (decomposition, rigor mortis, decapitation, or other)
• trauma victims including hanging and burns
• cardiac arrest of non-cardiac origin including drug overdose, carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning, exsanguination, electrocution, asphyxia, hypoxia related to respiratory disease, cerebrovascular accident, and documented terminal illness

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ottawa Hospital Research Institute: lead

Study Sites (1)

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4E9, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Heart Arrest

Interventions

Educational Status

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Socioeconomic Factors; Population Characteristics

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Christian Vaillancourt
• Organization: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

cvaillancourt@ohri.ca

613-798-5555

Study Officials

• Christian Vaillancourt, MD,MSc,FRCPC

  The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 9, 2013
• First Posted: June 7, 2013
• Study Start: June 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2014
• Study Completion: December 1, 2014
• Last Updated: March 17, 2021
• Results First Posted: November 24, 2020

Record last verified: 2021-02

Locations

CA (1)